Seasonal reports

Our seasonal reports are based on your records.

Can you remember what the weather was like this time last year and how plants and animal were responding? Did snowdrops flower earlier than usual last spring and did the trees hold onto their leaves for longer than usual in the autumn?

Our seasonal reports help to answer these questions.

Latest results

Spring 2018

The mild winter and early spring wildlife activity was blasted away by the cold and snow of February and March which put a halt to most new spring wildlife sightings. From April the weather became warmer and drier and spring got started again. Overall, 58 of 78 events were early compared to 2001. Five were the same and 15 were late. This may seem strange as the extreme cold of relatively short periods during February and March may have skewed our perception of how cold the spring was overall.

Previous results

2017

Autumn 2017

The autumn season started on a cool and damp note followed by a warm and dry October. November was dry and cold, but had higher sunshine hours than average. December was an unsettled mixture of mild weather and windy storms. Most autumn species and events were recorded earlier than during the benchmark year. The exceptions were the arrival of fieldfare and redwing, full tint and first ripe fruit of beech, and bare tree for sessile oak and rowan.

Spring 2017

In general it was a warm and dry start to the year compared with 30 year averages from the Met office. This was reflected in your records with 75 out of 78 events occurring early when compared to 2001, with some events over three weeks earlier. The exceptions were spotter flycatcher, swift, and red-tailed bumble bee first recorded which were slightly late.

2016

Autumn 2016

A warm start to the autumn 2016 recording season was followed by a sunny October and November and a dry December. Most autumn species and events were recorded later than during the benchmark year of 2007. The exceptions were the departure of migrating birds and the date of lawn last cut.

Spring 2016

Spring 2016 came early during a mild December that saw a record breaking average temperature. Most spring species and events were recorded earlier than during the benchmark year of 2001. We found that average records for some events were a whole month earlier than during the benchmark year. These included hazel first flowering, elder budburst and song thrush first singing.

2015

Autumn 2015

During autumn 2015 we saw some exceptional weather, with flooding prominent in the news. Most 2015 fruiting scores were lower compared to the 2007 benchmark year and fruit ripening was later for all species. On average, leaf tinting was also later, but bare tree was not, possibly because of defoliation by the regular autumn storms.

Spring 2015

After a benign and mild winter, spring 2015 was unexceptional - not quite as warm as 2014, and certainly not as cold as 2013. Temperatures in spring 2015 were near the benchmark year of 2001. Most of our spring events were recorded on average earlier than in 2013 but later than in 2014, though many were still recorded somewhat earlier than in the benchmark year itself.

2014

Autumn 2014

Spring 2014

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